Clephas

That one has to be one of the weirdest ones I've ever read, and that's saying a lot. As for virtual worlds, keep in mind that most of these aren't 'game worlds' but rather virtual worlds in which the characters live most of the time. The spoiler box contains ones for which this is a spoiler. The Baldr series Death End re;Quest Augmented Reality Harvest Overray Electro-arms

Tokyo Babel The protagonist is Tendou Setsuna, a young man assigned the role of climbing through the transformed Purgatory to Jacob's Ladder after the maker of all things starts squishing parallel earths like bugs, the remaining angels and demons coming together to support a traditional journey of atonement in hopes that God will relent.

Argento Soma- Again, another mecha that is more than a little nonsensical. Still fun to watch though. Protagonist is highly self-delusional. Inuyasha- Doesn't need an intro for anyone familiar with the old lineup for Cartoon Network's localized anime hour. Blood the Last Vampire- Popular movie but less popular than the TV series that came out later. Vandread- a silly comedy science fantasy that has a horrid protagonist and a concept that gives me a headache.

Vampire Hunter D was hugely popular twenty years ago. I enjoyed it myself.

FLCL- Should never have existed. Escaflowne Movie- Not as good as the TV series. Banner of the Stars- Second season of the Seikai series. Top-quality sci-fi space opera. Saiyuuki- Decent fantasy based off the legend of Sanzo with an anime twist. Love Hina- The beginning of the great era of romcom. If you watch it, you'll probably be able to see it was the origin for the harem romcom VNs that were so prolific until the last few years. Ayashi no Ceres- Urban fantasy series following a female protagonist in a hellish situation.

Maou has style and feels but yeah, no real tension since no one can beat the protag or even really get close to it. Eiyuu-ou is one of like a dozen LN/WN series that have become popular in recent years where a powerful person reincarnates to get away from his responsibilities or forcefully restart his life. tbh, I thought it wasn't one of the better ones of this type. I honestly don't understand why they bothered making it into an anime. Isekai Nonbiri Nouka- Yeah, this series is incredibly slow-paced and the poster boy for the 'slow-life reincarnator/transporter/summoned hero' sub-genre. Unless you want a ton of SOL iyashikei, it isn't really a great series. Kaiko Sareta Ankoku Heishi- This one is a pretty fun read so far, but it is also yet another slow-life type. At first, this genre was fun, but after like the fiftieth one, it started to feel like when I played all those romcom VNs for my blog. Saikyou Onmyouji- I actually really liked the books. Well, the ones I got through before I got distracted, anyway. I thought it was interesting because the protagonist is something of a monster at heart. I tend to like stories where the protagonist is a little evil but still human.

Boogiepop- Horror anime, incomplete, moderate quality. Tsukikage Ran- Mildly comedic anime about a female samurai's adventures during the Edo Period. Megami Kouhousei- I think I've mentioned this before, but mecha from this era were mostly nonsensical. This one does not vary from the trend.

The season is really heavy on fantasy and isekai, which brings out mixed feelings in me. I prefer those genres, so that makes me happy, but it also has the effect of dampening enthusiasm amongst Japanese watchers for next season. I'd much rather have a few high-quality shows than one good show and a bunch of third-rate ones. Maou Gakuin's second season is my current obsession, with the continuing Kage no Jitsuryokusha coming in a close second (especially given the cliffhanger of last week's episode). My second rank of interests include: Bofuri 2, Vinland Saga 2, Kamitachi ni Hirowareta Otoko 2, and Hyouken no Majutsushi (read the novel, something to look forward to if they didn't botch it). Third Rank includes: Shinka no Mi 2, Spy Kyoushitsu, Ningen Fushin, Eiyuuou, Nouka (incidentally, this one's LN is huge in Japan, but it is one of those slow-life isekai reincarnation stories, so don't expect a ton of action), Saikyou Onmyouji (this one's WN is pretty good, but I doubt we'll see the best parts before the season is over), Kaiko Sareta Ankoku Heishi (Just like Nouka, this one is pretty popular in jp, but I dunno how well it will transfer), Isekai Hourou Meshi (another slow life isekai, moderate quality in the books, localized LNs), Fourth Rank (no real hopes for it): Benriya Saitou ( couldn't get into the LN, maybe the anime will be different), Rougo ni Sonaete, Revenger, Ars no Kyoujuu, Ooyukiumi no Kaina, Trigun Stampede (nostalgia), and Tensei Oujo.

Hunter X Hunter- Visually, I actually like this one more than the newer version. I say this because the character designs of this version were much more detailed and certain violent scenes that were toned down in the newer series (such as Killua pulling that criminal's heart out). In particular, the Greed Island and Phantom Brigade arcs of this version are much, much better than the newer version's. Excel Saga- An anime that makes fun of anime. Not a unique idea now, but at the time it was novel. Generally an amusing watch, even if it is quite dated nowadays. The Big O- Like most mecha anime before the turn of the century, it makes very little sense. I honestly don't know why the makers of giant robot/mecha anime/manga before the turn of the century liked nonsensical settings and plots so much, but it was standard for the genre. Blue Gender- I'm going to be straight with you... this is the anime that made me hate the larger portion of post-apocalypse anime. It is one of the most overrated anime of the time, as it goes for shock value more than story value.

Here's another: Raillore no Ryakudatsusha, Lamunation reasons: No narration

Dual- Indirectly related to Tenchi GXP. However, it is more straightforwardly serious and less absurd than the Tenchi series tends to be. Not going to spoil how they are related, but it is best to watch Dual before GXP, then read the apocrypha. Arc the Lad- Anime based off of a series of classic games. The anime is a decently fun watch even if you haven't played the games. Jubee-chan- A mildly ecchi comedy. Eden's Bowy- Trashy poor-quality fantasy anime.

Crest of the Stars- Still one of the best sci-fi series to have been released in the last twenty-five years. The only misfortune is that they haven't put out more after the short fourth season. Kenshin- the OVA is nice and brutal, a change of pace from the TV series where the protag was constantly avoiding killing.

KareKano- Decent slice-of-life romance primarily from the girl's perspective. Orphen- Second-rate action fantasy from an era when action-fantasy was rare. Gasaraki- Like most mecha anime from the pre-2000's, it makes very little sense story-wise, but the aesthetic and battles are fun to watch. Generator Gawl- Fun to watch science fantasy series with monster transformations and battles.

Nightwalker- An old favorite of mine that was never completed. As vampire anime go, it is one of the better ones, but that is about all I can say about it today. Lain- This one is outside my preferred genres, but it is high quality.

Shiranui Yoshikazu of Evolimit (I play this every two years, lol). A brave pervert incapable of feeling sorrow who pushes on through even the worst of situations.

The key to making a truly good 'bad' ending is including a level of conclusiveness to it in the greater context of events. Bad endings which are basically random are generally useless (make one bad choice and all of the sudden the MC dies, for instance). However, if you include at least some progression after the choice or set of choices that creates the route to the bad ending, you can bring it to life in and of itself. Essentially that is what utsuge do. The best of them create a conclusive narrative that makes sense within the greater narrative as is defined by the 'true' ending. A lot of writers - particularly the ones that use the ladder-style choice structure - botch things here by creating a true route that invalidates all other endings due to setting elements included. Aiyoku no Eustia is a classic example of a botched attempt at a true ending, as the true ending completely invalidates the story of the other endings. This isn't much of an issue if you read slowly (those who read a single VN over the course of months or a year), but for someone who finishes an average-sized VN within a week or a month, it is a glaring flaw. Even small inconsistencies and setting clashes standout in that case, and it is glaringly obvious in the case of VNs with true endings or grand routes. In Akeiro Kaikitan, while there is a true ending, no single ending is neglected. All of them are somewhat bittersweet and some are downright bad (Youko's ending comes to mind, as it is the result of literally everything going wrong). My favorite path in the game, the path for the tochigami twins, is a classic example of how a bittersweet ending can leave an intense impression that overshadows the true ending. As cathartic endings go, it is pretty close to the ideal. Another game that can be considered mostly extended bad endings is Jingai Makyou (by Nitroplus). Even the single 'happiest' ending in the game is an ending where the protagonist casts aside his humanity, for instance. Even then, it is a matter of interpretation, as some would find the alternate endings for the same path to be 'better' depending on their outlook, even if it cost the characters deeply in the process. Yet another approach I experienced in the past is the one used in Ore no Tsure wa Hitodenashi. In this one, the endings are separated into 'blue' and 'Happy' endings. The happy endings are just that, straight-out happy endings. However, the blue endings are endings where the inhuman heroines follow their darker desires and things go in a completely different direction. This utilizes the drastic contrast to enhance the experience both ways. It also built up the characterizations in a way that was surprisingly effective.

It's better if I give an example here. The example I'm offering up is Houkago no Futekikakusha. Houkago no Futekikakusha is undeniably an incredibly brutal utsuge... but the true ending can be considered a 'good' ending... if you ignore the fact that in all the alternative timelines, those horrible events still happened. The main difference between a nakige and an utsuge is that nakige always result in a 'good' ending, even if it is a bit bittersweet, whereas an utsuge's endings will mostly be sad or despairing endings (a single ending can be an exception, but anything more than that and it isn't quite an utsuge). That should answer most of your questions, but I'll go ahead and put up another example... in this case, a chuunige. Chuunige generally have bittersweet endings, with truly happy endings being relatively rare. The one I want to mention is Silverio Trinity (second in the series). Spoilers below: Because of this, it fits your condition of a single ending being 'good' while all the others are bitter or sad. This particular tactic, which is usually used to enhance the emotional response of the reader to the final 'good' ending, can have great results or horrible ones depending on how that last ending is handled. To be blunt, I've read VNs where a writer took this tactic and ran it into the ground because he couldn't write a sufficiently standout good path to contrast with the bad ones. The most effective tactic in this case is to path-lock so that one can only reach the good ending by experiencing all or at least one of the bad endings, then making the good ending highly detailed and emotionally impactful (made even moreso by the experience of the other paths).

It's not an unusual concept. To be blunt, Sunao's ending in Semiramis no Tenbin is basically a bad ending that happens if you miss the flag for Ami's ending. As for bad endings that are longer than the good endings... less common but also something that happens regularly in utsuge in particular. Sora no Baroque comes to mind, for instance. However, you have to ask yourself... do you really want a bad ending to be the one thing people remember when it is all over? Because the longest and most detailed endings are the ones people remember the most. In good VNs, the true ending generally is never shorter than the other endings and is often longer many times over for this precise reason. It is also why - if a heroine exists for the true ending - picking a poor quality heroine for the true ending usually damns the game to the kusoge pile.

Cowboy Bebop- Umm... does this need an intro? Lost Universe- Slayers in space, basically. Fun to watch if you liked the Slayers and you like sci-fi, but otherwise not of interest. Lodoss War TV- OVA was better, both animation-wise and story-wise. Very Dungeons and Dragons style and so atypical of anime of this type. Trigun- Ditto to Cowboy Bebop thanks to Toonami. Weiss Kreuz- Halfway decent vigilante justice anime. Doesn't do anything special beyond that. Nazca- Never could figure out what they were trying to do with this one, and I watched it to the end. Queen Emeraldas- Another of those series that has way too many relations (like Tenchi). The various series based in this world/universe don't make much sense, but they are often fun to watch. Cardcaptor Sakura- Very typical of Clamp's works... in truth, Cardcaptor Sakura was the anime that set the standard for Clamp's works with innumerable spinoff series, of which Tsubasa Chronicles was the best. Though I also liked xxxHolic Neo Ranga- Like most mech anime that weren't Gundam from this era, it makes very little sense. Still, wasn't bad visually. Legend of Basara- Decent for early-era samurai action, but not that good in comparison to today's anime.

Looks like it might not contain the contents from Superior. It does contain Mitori and Hishia's routes though. Superior is a non-heroine path that branches off the events of Saku's path.

Amatsutsumi definitely is more slice-of-life focused. The only route that is a real exception is the Hotaru route. I really suggest you play the complete edition of Hello, Lady (including the materials from Superior), as it contains a non-heroine true route that is excellent. Also, the extra routes for Hishia and Mitori are worth playing simply because Mitori's provides a lot of insight into some of the background noise of the other paths and Hishia's path gives you more background on Shinri.

My top ten VN soundtracks Evolimit Komorebi no Nostalgica Hapymaher Silverio Series Akeiro Kaikitan Ikusa Megami Zero Draculius Kitto, Todoku Sumiwataru Asairo Yori Mo Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary Devils Devel Concept

Perfect Blue was the anime that made me not want have anything to do with the entertainment industry. I hated it and hate it to this day. Outlaw Star doesn't really need any intro for people who began watching anime near the turn of the century, since it was one of a small minority of anime that made it onto cable television.

Vampire Princess Miyu- I liked this series when I was younger, but to be honest, it hasn't aged well. It was part of a sub-genre of horror anime that involved mysterious young girls in ambiguous moral situations. This included Miyu, Jigoku Shoujo, and a number of others. Berserk- Do I really need to say anything about the original? Those who Hunt Elves II- Identical meh opinion to the first season.

Utena is one of those anime that was immensely popular despite being absolutely awful and making no sense. Such anime became common near the turn of the century, and they have left a legacy of indelible horror and illogic in the minds of formerly rational human beings exposed to them. Hyper Police- I was fond of this anime, if only because the protag was a catgirl and her partner was a kitsune. The image of a world where gods, youkai, and demons were both coexisting with and fighting humans was pretty fascinating at the time. Fushigi Yuugi 2- Honestly, this season turned me off of the series, though I liked the first one (despite its horrors). Haunted Junction was one of those random comedy fantasy anime that made waves before FLCL ruined everything. It is fairly amusing, though the humor hasn't aged that well. Slayers Try- This was the last good season of the Slayers. Or rather, it was the last complete one, lol. It has some decent action scenes, the series' usual combination of slapstick humor and drama, and a few new characters on a new continent. Clamp Gakuen was one of many weird anime Clamp made over the years. It wasn't one of their better moments, but it wasn't awful either.